Paper fastener



0. A. ROSS PAPER FASTENER Nov. 7, 1933.

Filed Nov. 21, 1932 "'IIIIHIIIHHf INVENTOR. QM

Patented Nov. 7, 1933 PAPER FASTENER Oscar A. Ross, New York, N. Y.

Application November 21, 1932 Serial No. 643,774

22 Claims.

This invention refers to paper fasteners and more particularly to thatclass of fasteners for clamping together a number of superimposed sheetsof perforated paper such as correspondence.

One object of this invention is to provide a fastener of this characterwhich is of improved and economical construction and which will givehighly satisfactory service in use.

Another object is to furnish a paper fastener wherein the parts forholding the sheet together in proper position may be firmly locked inclosed or operative position so as to prevent accidental release of suchparts and resultant misalignment or disarrangement of the papers heldthereby.

Another object is to provide novel forms of locking members for paperfasteners capable of being locked and unlocked by the operatormanipulating said fasteners.

Another object is to provide a novel form of stop for locking memberswhich are slidable on keepers of paper fasteners for limiting themovement of said locking members within predetermined limits of travel.

Another object is to provide peculiar forms of keepers for paperfasteners wherein the looking members slidable thereon are arranged tobe locked against movement relative with the keeper plate.

Another object is to provide peculiar forms of keepers for paperfasteners having slidable locking members thereon wherein the keeperplate and the locking members are locked together against relativemovement.

Another object is to furnish peculiar forms of keepers for paperfasteners having slidable locking members thereon, the keeper platehaving mating portions arranged to co-operate with mating portions onthe locking members for locking said members against movement relativelyto the keeper plate.

Another object is to furnish a novel form of keeper for paper fastenerswherein rails provided for supporting slidable locking members also actto re-enforce the keeper plate.

Another object is to furnish an improved paper fastener which is ofcompartively small height 50 or thickness whereby the space in filingcabinets or the like is economized. 7

Another object is to furnish a novel form of reenforcement for keepersof a paper fastener without increasing the thickness of the paperfastener.

Another object is to furnish a paper fastener base from rolled striphaving rolled edges wherein the base portion of said base may be madewider than the fingers Without shearing the edges of said fingers andthereby prevent cutting of the fingers of file operators whenmanipulating said fasteners.

Another object is to furnish a novel form of kee er for paper fastenerswherein the ends of the keeper plate receiving the fingers therethroughare re-enforced around the orifice receiving said fingers and therebyprovide a more rigid plate member.

Another object is to furnish a novel and improved construction andarrangement for supporting locking members of paper fasteners, wherebythe keeper supporting the same may be made of comparatively small heightor thickness without any resulting interference with the free movementof such locking members on the keepers when paper sheets are to beaddedor removed from the files secured by said fastener.

Another object is to furnish a novel form of paper fastener whereinlocking members slidably supported by the keepers of said fastener arearranged to be frictionally locked onto the keeper plate dependently andindependently of the'fingers of the base member.

Another object is to furnish novel forms of locking members havinglocking portions arranged to lockingly engage locking portions on.keeper plates of paper fasteners.

Another object is to furnish novel forms of resilient locking membersnormally resiliently lockingly engaging keeper plates of paperfasteners. 7

Another object is to furnish a novel form of keeper plate for paperfasteners, the plate being formed from a rolled edge metal strip ofcomparatively narrow width, the mid-portion of the strip being slittedand. the half portions on each side of said slit being spread laterallyand re-enforced, said re-enforcement also providing rails upon whichlocking members are slidably mounted. 1

Another object is to furnish novel means for limiting the slidingmovement of locking members on keeper plates of paper fasteners.

Another object is to furnish novel forms of paper fasteners whereinlocking members slidable on the keeper plates of the keepers of saidfasteners are arranged to be matingly locked to said keeper platesdependently and independently of the fingers of the base member of saidfasteners. 7

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description of theinvention progresses, and the novel features of the invention will bepointed out in the appended claims.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had'to the accompanying drawing, wherein several embodiments of theinvention are illustrated and wherein;

Figure 1 is a perspective enlarged view of one embodiment of theinvention. showing a complots fastener, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of apartially formed blank of the base member there-' of, and Figs. 3 and 4are enlarged fragmental views of said base member showing methods ofre-enforcement thereof, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmental view of amodified form of keeper, and Fig. 6 is a super-enlarged sectional Viewof the same, and Fig. 7 'is an enlarged fragmental view of anothe'modified form of keeper, and Fig. 8 is a super-enlarged view of thesame, and Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective View of still anothermodified form of keeper, and Fig. 10 is a super-enlarged sectional viewof the same, and Fig. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of stillanother modified form of keeper, and Fig. 12 is a super-enlargedsectional view of the locking member slidable thereon, and Fig. 13 is anenlarged perspective view of the keeper shown in Fig. 1, and Fig- 14 isa super-enlarged sectional view of the same.

and Fig. 15 is a perspective fragmental view of a modified form ofkeeper plate for paper fastener keepers.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 13 and 14, the base member 1, is formedfrom a rolled edge strip 2 of uniform width shown in Fig. 2, themid-portion 3 being slit and the half portions 4 and 5 being spaced andalso re-enforced by re-enforcing ribs as 6 or '7 to form the baseportion of said base member, the end portions, or fingers 8 being bentupwardly and arranged to pass through'the orifices 9 of keeper plate 10slidably supporting locking members 11 to form a complete keeper member12, said locking member being arranged to slide over the free ends offingers 8 after the bending downwardly thereof betweenrails 18.

Locking members 11 are formed with bridge portion 13 having raisedactuating boss 14 and channel shoe portions 15 at each end thereof, thelower flange of said shoe portions having a serrated or corrugatedmating locking portion 16 arranged to matingly engage the matingserrations or corrugations 17 formed on the under side of rails 18.- Inthis form-of keeper the normal resilient upward movement of fingers 8after bending downwardly thereof, acts to urge locking members 11upwardly whereby the serrated por tions'lfiare constrained'to inatinglyengage the serrations 17 thereby locking said locking membersagainstsliding movement on said rails 18. 'For removing the keeper 12,it is only necessary to depress said locking members downwardly todisengage the serrated portions 16 from the serrations 17 whereupon saidlocking members may be readily slid on said rails for locking orunlocking said fingers.

Referring to the modified form of keeper 20 shown by Figs. 6' and 7, thekeeper plate 21 thereof is formed with serrations or corrugations '22 onthe 'upper face of the base portion 28 of said plate member. Lockingmembers 27 are formed with bridge portion 24 having channel or shoeportions 25-at each end thereof arranged to slide on rail portions 26 ofkeeper plate 21. Downwardly extending locking portions 28 are formedfrom the bridge portion, thelowerends thereof having serrated orcorrugated portions 29 arranged to matingly normally engage theserrations 22 of keeper plate 21. In this form of keeper the flangeportions 250, normally frictionally engage the underside of rails 25thereby normally urging the serrated portions 29 into engagement withthe serrations 22, however due to the resiliency of the shoe portions25, looking members 20 may be manually slid on he rails 26 by manuallyforcing said members along said rails, this movement being continuallyresisted as the serrated portions 29 move upwardly and downwardly intraveling over serrations 22. The locking members 20 are thereforepositively .locked at any position on rails 26 when not each endthereof, said shoe portions having ser- 1 rated, or corrugated edgeportions 34 arranged to normally matingly engage the serrations 17 or"keeper plate 12. The upper flange portion 35 of shoe portions 33normally frictionally engage the upper face of rails 18 and at thesametime the serrated portions 34 normally engage the serrations 1'7,the resilient upward movement of fingers 8 after bending downwardly alsoacting to assist in said mating engagement, and thereby prevent thesliding of said locking mem-- bers on said rails. To move said lockingmem bers the center portion of the bridge portions is manually depresseddownwardly whereupon the shoe portions 33 are bodily rotated around anaxis or pivot 36, said rotation acting to disengage the serratedportions 34 from serrations 17 whereby said locking members may befreely slid on rails 18 for looking or unlocking fingers'8.

Referring to the modified form of keeper 413 shown inFigs. 9 and 10, therails 42 of keeper plate 41 are provided with notches or recesses43'which may be adjacent or spaced arranged to matingly receive theinwardly extending male looking projections 44 formed on channel or shoeportions 45 of the'resilient locking member the bridge portion 47 ofwhich is normally resiliently arched upwardly for urging said lockingprojections 44 into said recesses 43, said resiliently upwardly archingbeing assisted by the resilient upward movement of fingers 8 lookedunder said locking members, in this manner normally preventing a slidingmovement of said locking members on rails 42. To move said lockingmembers the center portion of bridge portion 47 is depressed downwardlymanually thereby constraining the shoe portions 45 outwardly from saidrails 42 in this manner withdrawing locking proj eotions 44 from therecesses 43 sufficiently to permit free movement of said locking membervover said rails for the locking and unlocking fingers 8.

Referring to Figs. 11 and 12 showing modified form of keeper 50,comprising keeper plate 51 having serrations or corrugations 52 formedonthe upper face of rails 53, said serrati ns are arranged to matinglyengage the serrati -s or corrugations 54 on resilient locking fingers 55formed from the body of bridge portions 55 of locking members 57, saidlocking members hei 3: slidable on rails 53. Looking members 57 alsocomprise channel or shoe portions 58 formed at the ends of the bridgeportions 56 and ar ranged to slide on rails 53. The resilient 54normally effect mating engagement of the CIl serrations 54 with theserrations 52 and also normally effect frictional engagement of flangeportion 59 with the under side of rails 53 independently of theresilient action of fingers 8, the locking members being normallylocked'in position at any portion of rails 53. To move said lockingmembers for looking or unlocking fingers 8 said members are manuallyurged along said rails, the locking fingers 54 rising and falling asthey pass over the serrations 52 of rails 53.

All the keeper plates of the various modified "forms of keepers areprovided with upwardly extending locking projections 19 for limiting theextreme movement of the locking members independently of the limitingthereof by the various locking means between said keeper plate andlocking members for locking said locking members at predetermined andvariable locked positions.

Whereas in my copending applications Serial Number 643,773, filedNovember 21, 1932, now Patent 1,908,644, dated May 9, 1933, the lockingmembers are shown as arranged to matingly lockingly engage the fingersof the base member, in the present application said looking members arearranged to mating lockingly engage the keeper plate.

The various keeper plates shown in the modified forms of keepers, exceptas shown modified, are similar in form to the keeper shown in Fig. 1.Said plates are provided with upwardly extending projections 19 forlimiting the movement of the various locking members on said rails.

Referring to Fig. 15 showing a modified form of keeper plate formed froma strip of metal of uniform width, preferably of the same width as thewidth of the metal strip forming the clamping member 1, the mid-portionof said strip is slitted and the half portions 71 are spread laterallyas shown to form a space therebetween, similarly as described in theforming of clamping member 1, the adjacent ends of half portions 71being integrally joined and joining an end portion of the strip having awidth equal to the width of the strip from which the keeper plate isformed as indicated by the end portion 74, said end portion having beenbent over at 72 after the orifice 73 has been formed therein, saidorifice being preferably formed by perforating the strip and thereafterspreading the portions thereof at the sides of said perforation, theorifices 73 being arranged to receive the fingers 8, it being understoodthat the opposite end of keeper plate 70 is formed similarly to the endshown. The half portions 71 are formed with rail portions 75 andre-enforcing, or wall portions 76. With serrations as 17 provided on theunder side of said rail portions, the locking members 11 or 31 may bemounted on said rails, and when serrations as 22 and 52 are provided onthe upper side of said rails and wall portions, locking members, as 25and 57 may be mounted on said rails, and with notches, as 43 formed onthe edges of said rails 75, the locking member 46 may be slidablymounted on said rails. Said rail portions 75 may be provided withlimiting projections as 19 for limiting the movement of said lockingmembers.

It is also to be understood that in Fig. 1, only one end portion of acomplete paper fastener is shown and that the other end thereof issimilarly formed to the end shown.

Whereas the modified form of keeper shown in -Fig s. 9 and 10 are shownwith looking projections 44 arranged to engage the recesses 43, saidprojections and recesses may be omitted and the frictional engagement ofthe shoe portions 45 with the rails 48 may act as the locking means forlocking the locking member 46 onto the keepor plate 41, said frictionalengagement being effected by the upward urging of the resilient bridgeportion 47.

What I claim is:

1, In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being adapted tobe bent downwardly over the keeper, locking portions on the keeper,locking members slidable on the keeper over the fingers, and lockingportions on the locking members arranged to engage the locking portionsof the keeper during the sliding of the locking members on the keeperover the fingers.

2. In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being adapted tobe bent downwardly over the keeper, and locking members slidable on thekeeper, the locking members and the keeper having mating lockingportions adapted to be brought into mating engagement upon the slidingof the locking members'over the fingers and along the keeper.

3. In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being adapted tobe bent downwardly over the keeper, locking members slidably mounted onthe keeper arranged to slide over the fingers after the bendingdownwardly thereof over the keeper, arresting means formed on thekeeper, and arresting means formed on the locking members co-operatingwith the arresting means on the keeper for positioning the lockingmembers at predetermined and variable stationary positions between theends of the keeper,

4. In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being adapted tobe bent downwardly over the keeper, locking portions on the keeper, andlocking members slidable on the keeper having locking portions arrangedto lockingly engage the locking portions on the keeper, the lockingportions on the keeper extending longitudinally thereof a greaterdistance than the width of the locking members.

5. In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being adapted tobe bent downwardly for engagement with the keeper, and locking membersslidable on the keeper, the locking members and the keeper havingcorrelated locking portions adapted to be brought into lockingengagement upon the sliding of the locking members on the keeper, thelocking engagement of the locking portions being dependent uponresilient movement of the fingers after the bending downwardly thereofwith respect to the keeper.

6. In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being'adapted tobe bent downwardly for engagement with the keeper, and locking membersslidable on the keeper having resilient portions, the locking membersand the keeper having correlated looking portions adapted to be broughtinto locking engagement upon the sliding of the locking members on thekeeper, the locking engagement of the locking portions being dependentupon normal resilient deflection of the resilient portion of the lockingmembers.

7. In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being adapted tobe bent downwardly for engagement with the keeper, locking portions onthe keeper, and locking members having locking portions arranged tolockingly engage the locking portions on the keeper, the lockingportions on the keeper extending longitudinally thereof a greaterdistance than the Width of the locking members.

8. In a paper fastener, a clamping member having spaced fingers, akeeper associated with the clamping member, the fingers being adapted tobe bent downwardly for engagement with the keeper, and locking membersslidable on the keeper, the locking members and the keeper havingcorrelated locking portions adapted to be brought into lockingengagement upon the sliding of the locking members on the keeper, thelocking portions being normally engaged during the sliding of thelocking members.

9. A keeper for paper fasteners comprising, a keeper plate having spacedrails thereon, looking members slidable on the rails, locking meansformed on the rails, and locking means formed on the locking membersco-operating with the locking means on the rails for positioning thelocking members at predetermined and variable stationary positions onthe rails.

10. A keeper for paper fasteners comprising, a keeper plate havingspaced rails, locking portions formed on the rails, locking membersslidable on the rails having locking portions normally engaging thelocking portions on the rails, and resilient means on the locking member normally effecting locking engagement of the keeper locking portionwith the locking member locking portions arranged to unlock the lockingportions upon manual deflection of the resilient means.

11. A keeper for paper fasteners comprising, a keeper plate havingspaced rails thereon, looking means formed on the keeper plate, lookingmembers slidable on the rails having looking portions thereon, thelocking means on the locking portion normally engaging the locking meanson the keeper plate during the sliding of the locking members on therails.

12. A keeper for paper fasteners comprising, a keeper plate havingspaced rails thereon, locking means on the keeper plate, locking membersslidable on the rails having locking portions, the locking means formedon the looking portions engaging the locking means on the keeper plate,the locking means on the keeper plate extending longitudinally thereonfor a greater distance than the width of the locking members.

13, A keeper for paper fasteners comprising, a keeper plate havingspaced, rails thereon, serrations formed along the rails, lockingmembers slidable on the rails, and serrations formed on the lockingmembers arranged to matingly engage the serrations on the rails forpositioning the looking members at predetermined and vari ablestationary positions on the keeper plate.

14. A keeper for paper fasteners comprising,

a keeper plate having spaced rails thereon, corrugations formed alongthe rails, locking members slidable on the rails, and cornugationsformed on the locking members arranged to matingly engage thecorrugations of the rails for positioning the locking members atpredetermined and variable stationary positions on the keeper plate.

15. A keeper for paper fasteners comprising, a keeper plate havingspaced rails thereon, mating means formed along the rails between theends of the keeper plate, locking members slidable on the rails havingshoe portions, and mating means formed on the shoe portions arranged tomatingly engage the mating means on the rails.

16. In a clamping member for paper fasteners including a keeper, spacedfinger portions for receiving the keeper, and a base portion comprisingspaced elongated mid-portions and converging end portions having theinner ends thereof joined to the ends of the elongated portions and theouter ends thereof joined to the inner ends of the fingers.-

17. In a clamping member for paper fasteners including a keeper, spacedfinger portions for receiving the keeper and a base portion comprisingspaced elongated connecting portions having the ends thereof joined tothe inner ends of the finger portions, the elongated connecting portionsbeing positioned solely within the space between the fingers.

18. The method of forming clamping members for paper fasteners from astrip of metal of uniform width, the member having a mid-base portionintegrally joined to the inner ends of finger portions which involves,slitting the midbase portion longitudinally thereof and laterallyspreading the half portions each side .of the slit to form the baseportion of the clamping member.

19. In a keeper for paper fasteners, a plate member having spaced railportions, locking members having shoe portions slidably engaging therail portions, and a resiliently deflectable bridge portion connectingthe shoe portions normally effecting locking engagement therebetween andthe rail portions, the deflection of the bridge portion acting to unlockthe shoe portions from the rail portions for sliding the locking membersthereover.

20. A locking member for keepers for paper fasteners comprising, abridge portion having shoe portions formed at each end thereof, the

shoe portions having a flange portion, and locking means formed on thefree edge of the flange portions.

21. In a keeper for paper fasteners including clamping member as a partthereof, a keeper plate comprising spaced elongated mild-portions andplate end portions joined to the ends of the mid-portions, the plate endportions having perforations for receiving the fingers of the clampingmember.

22. In a keeper for paper fasteners including a clamping member as apart thereof, a keeper plate comprising spaced elongated mid-portions,plate end portions joined to the ends of the elongated mid-portions, andperforations in the end portions for receiving the fingers of theclamping member.

OSCAR A. ROSS.

